


Wait For a Different Day [Make Your Own Way]

by onefootonego (startingXI)



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Future Relationship Implied, liminal spaces!au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-09
Updated: 2017-03-09
Packaged: 2018-10-01 13:50:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10191326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/startingXI/pseuds/onefootonego
Summary: maggie had thought that her years as a member of the gotham police department would have exposed her to the widest array of the weird and the unexplained. turns out, gotham didn't have anything on this gas station.[or: weird shit happens when you work at a gas station in the middle of nowhere, including unexpected visits by supergirl]





	

it isn't that maggie thought she would be spending the summer working at the gas station fifteen miles outside blue springs, nebraska. it isn't even that she liked the job all that much, but the night shift paid marginally better, and the work didn't stress her shoulder. which, for the two bullet wounds she's carrying, was and continues to be good news. 

maggie had thought that her years as a member of the gotham police department would have exposed her to the widest array of the weird and the unexplained. turns out, gotham didn't have anything on this gas station. 

at first, maggie spent her nights on edge. her hand reaching for a gun that wasn't at her hip. head whipping towards the door every time the electronic bell went off. but that was exhausting, and slowly, she just got used to it. 

she works from eleven pm to seven am. it isn't glamours, but it is interesting. there are the usual truckers, bleary eyed and in need of as much caffeine as maggie can provide. every so often there is the weary traveler who comes in for a bathroom break, a snack and a nap in the parking lot.

they're not technically allowed to nap there, but the roads are safer if the drivers are well-ish rested, so maggie lets them be. they're usually pretty harmless. 

it's always after midnight when things start to get 

interesting. 

[to say the least] 

maggie has come to accept ghosts, and time loops and the guy who comes in every other friday at 3:22am and takes every single donut from the display case. she accepts this because there is no logical explanation. or, there are logical explanations, 

it just so happens that those explanations involve 

ghosts, 

time loops, 

time travel, 

and what maggie calls 

'other weird shit.'

she's been working at this gas station for three months, and maggie has realized that the summer brings on stranger things. luckily nothing quite like the freaky shit in that tv show, but close. almost. 

like the one time this guy wandered in off the highway, not a car in site, and walked up to the counter producing the largest fold out map maggie had ever seen. and sure, this seems almost normal by the standards of this place, but then he went about asking the old claymore estate. which again, normal - the house is abandoned and totally haunted, but the ghost hunter types come through every so often looking. so maggie turns to give him a more updated map, but, when she turned around, 

he was gone. 

straight up vanished. 

and maggie knows this because she checked the video tapes. one minute the guy was there, the next, with her back to him, he's gone. 

the only sign he'd ever been there were muddy footprints across her recently cleaned floors. 

maggie knows weird shit happens. she prepares for it. 

but nothing, nothing prepares her for the moment there's a crash, a shudder and a girl comes stumbling through the doors. the very much locked doors, maggie might add. 

[theft is a thing, people usually buzz to be let inside - except this girl] 

not that it's a girl at all. or, it is, but maggie is caught on the fact that supergirl, the _supergirl_ is limping towards her counter. maggie can take one look and see that the hero is worn down. 

there's dust across most of her, twigs and leaves in her hair. she's bleeding from a cut under her right eye. the reds and blues of her suit seem too bright under the fluorescent lights, and her cape flutters in the breeze whistling between the doors that aren't sitting quite on their hinges. 

for a moment maggie wonders if this is a hallucination and that she's going to wake up in the milk fridge, on the ground - like last time. 

but somehow the larger part of her doesn't think so. mostly because in this instant, supergirl is tugging something out of her ear, something maggie suspects is a comm of sorts. but it's mangled and dented, hardcore broken "can i borrow your phone?" supergirl asks, sounding apologetic and exhausted. 

"sure," maggie says, like this is totally normal, reaching for the store phone and looking back at supergirl. her hands are shaking and even under these lights she looks pale "maybe i'll dial?" maggie offers, and supergirl nods, relieved. 

the number is innocuous enough, it rings once and then 

_"danvers."_ the word, the name, is said with equal parts hostility and hope. 

"uh," maggie start, how exactly do you explain this "i've got supergirl for you." is how she finishes, handing the phone across the counter. 

supergirl takes it, mouthful of a donut maggie didn't even see her grab "hi," she starts, the words spoke around a boston cream "i'm-" she pauses again, looks around, then over to maggie 

"where am i?" she asks, a spray of crumbs escaping. 

"nebraska." maggie supplies "near a town called blue springs." 

supergirl chokes for a moment "nebraska?" she questions, half to maggie, but heard by the woman on the other end of the line.

this, danvers, person. 

maggie has to admit, she sounded hot. if hotness can be conveyed by saying one word. 

"yeah," supergirl says, obviously calming the woman called danvers "yeah, i'm okay. kind of. but i lost him. it was the tornado thing and then, i was here." 

tornado thing. and a him. probably a bad him if maggie had to chance a guess. supergirl wasn't notorious for fighting the good guys. 

"i'll wait." supergirl says "not like i can go anywhere anyway. just get my location from the comm." she glances down at said comm "if you can." she adds 

there's a pause. 

then "see you soon." 

soon? 

maggie isn't quite sure, but her night is interesting now at the very least. supergirl hands the phone across the counter "do you mind if i wait?" she asks 

"knock yourself out." maggie tells her, watching the way supergirl limp walks across the store, all but collapsing into a booth, head on hands resting on the formica countertop. 

countertops maggie hadn't cleaned in a while. she grimaces, find the spray bottle and a rag and walks over "i should," she starts, stops "it's pretty gross." 

supergirl looks up at her, down to the blood smear on the table, on her hand "i'm bleeding." she says, obviously surprised. 

she looks worse, maggie decides. 

"yeah," maggie says "hold on a sec, we have a first aid kid." 

"for superheroes?" supergirl says, as maggie heads back to the counter where the first aid kit lives. 

"blood's blood." maggie says with a shrug, first aid kit in her hands. 

not that it's been used since probably the late sixties, but she knows it's well stocked. and if not, there are plenty of less ancient first aid kits next to the pringles. speaking of, maggie veers to the coolers and pulls out a blue powerade and snags a cliff bar. 

she deposits her cache onto the table and supergirl looks down, she looks to maggie. maggie who says "you need electrolytes. and food." she adds "on the house." 

supergirl pauses, and maggie raises an eyebrow "if tornado man comes through those doors someone's going to have to stop him. i'd hate to have to explain to my boss why his building is gone." 

that gets a worn smile from the sueprhero and maggie smirks, watching as supergirl downs half the powerade in a gulp and the entire cliff bar in one mouthful. it's a little sickening, but maggie goes back over, gets two more - both chocolate chip, and deposits them on the table "for after i look at your cut." she says, kneeling down in front of supergirl. 

the hero tenses,

maggie rocks back onto her heels "only if you want," she says, "but that's bleeding pretty bad." she nods to the cut under supergirls eye. 

there's a moment of hesitation and then supergirl says "okay." in a soft, quiet voice maggie wasn't quite prepared for. 

"i'm maggie." she says 

"supergirl." supergirl replies with a soft smile.

maggie returns it, takes a breath "i was a cop." she says, opening the first aid kit and inspecting what she has to work with "still am technically," maggie counters "gotham pd." 

"why are you here?" the hero asks, again with that quiet voice. 

but it's a little more confident, a little less tense now that the attention is away from her. even if maggie is ripping open some gauze and using it to wipe away the blood. 

"got shot." maggie says as causally as she can "double tap in the shoulder." she continues and her voice is a little darker 

[she doesn't say that it was her own side. her own partner. her own, corrupt partner] 

[she'd been too idealistic for that city] 

"oh." supergirl says, then adds "i'm usually bullet proof." 

"don't think you are right now." maggie says, ripping open two alcohol whips "this might sting." 

she feels supergirl tense, hears her hiss as the wipe moves over the open wound "sorry." maggie apologizes "one more." she says, same tension, same hissing, a relieved breathe when maggie places a butterfly over the cut and stands up "done." she says 

"thank you." supergirl says "my si- agent danvers will be glad someone looked out for me." 

maggie assumes agent danvers is the woman on the phone "so they're coming to get you?" she asks 

supergirl nods "i don't think i should fly right now." 

an interesting note. 

"good to be safe." maggie says 

"when did you get shot?" supergirl asks suddenly 

"oh, two months ago?" maggie says, not that she needs to phrase it as a question - she remembers, oh she remembers, but it's easier that way. 

"and now you work here." 

maggie looks around, the bright lights, the milk fridge, she sighs "yeah, until my transfer paperwork goes through-" 

she doesn't have a chance to finish because in that instant the door is kicked down. there's the shattering of glass and while maggie expect black clad special ops types with guns shouting a three letter agency she's never heard of, 

that's not who steps into the gas station. 

instead, it's an alien. 

maggie knows because there are two heads and blue skin. oh and hands of fire. 

this is definitely supergirls department. but right now maggie thinks her little cousin could take supergirl. so, she forms a plan. even as supergirl stands, even as she steps in front of maggie, shouting in a language maggie has definitely never head before. 

maggie watches as the alien throws a ball of fire. watches it explode onto the ice cream freezer. she winces, no chance of saving that. the next fireball explodes onto the postcard rack. if she's being honest, maggie isn't sorry those are gone. they were terrible. 

with the alien sufficiently distracted by supergirl and increasingly covered in flames, maggie reaches her destination. 

the fire extinguisher. 

she yanks it from the wall and shouts "hey you!" as loud as she can. 

the alien looks her way. 

it's disconcerting to have so many eyes on her - supergirls included - but instinct kicks in and maggie unleashes the extinguisher onto the alien. spraying it as much as she can. 

hell if it's going to work, but supergirl isn't quite so super right now. 

but hey, compressed carbon dioxide seemed to be the way to go. because the alien is screaming and the alien is falling and the alien is unconscious. laid out on the floor, covered in white powder, still breathing, maggie thinks. 

"that was," supergirls says, moving slowly towards the alien "that was really smart." 

"thanks." maggie says, dropping the fire extinguisher to the floor with a heavy clang "you should sit down." 

supergirl nods, walking back over to her booth and sinking into it. maggie goes back to the alien, she nudges with a boot. they don't move. 

at least they're unconscious for now. 

stepping over the broken glass she goes to her car, retrieving the miniature extinguisher she never thought she'd really use and taking it back inside. she leans against the busted ice cream freezer and watches the alien, just in case. 

eventually, supergirl wanders over to her, eyeing the freezer. maggie laughs "you may as well," she sighs "they're only going to melt."

it seems like that's all the permission supergirl needs because she's reaching in and handing one to maggie and opening one for herself. 

they eat in silence before maggie stills, half a bombpop finished. she listens carefully, the faint sound of, something is coming this way. the sound gets louder and louder and then there are lights. she braces, but supergirl puts a hand on her shoulder "it's okay." she says "these are the good guys." 

the good guys, turn out to be a girl. a woman, exactly the clad in black that maggie was expecting - and also, yes, she's attractive. maggie almost feels like she's intruding when the woman runs across the broken glass and pulls the hero into her arms "supergirl," she breathes and maggie looks down, looks away "you're okay." and then she's stepping back, a thumb coming up to brush against the butterfly on her cheek "who?" 

supergirl points at maggie "maggie cleaned me up." 

and that's the first time maggie sawyer and alex danvers meet. the agent standing to her full height, turning towards maggie and holding out a hand "thank you." she says, then looks down at the alien "and he's-" she turns back to supergirl. 

"unconscious." supergirl says brightly "maggie sprayed him with the fire extinguisher." 

"smart." agent danvers says 

"thanks." maggie replies, sighing because this is a hell of a lot of clean up to do. 

"you're going to need to sign a non-disclosure agreement." agent danvers says and maggie looks up at her. 

"what do i tell my boss?" she asks 

the agent nods outside. a wrecked car is being moved into place, half on the curb, half into the store "out of control driver." she says "fbi is handling the scene." 

maggie eyes the agent "and you're the fbi?" 

agent danvers holds her gaze - seconds pass and they're staring at each other. maggie can feel her mouth go dry, her pulse inching its way higher. "that's right." the agent says, tearing her gaze away. 

that's also a straight up lie. 

"well," maggie says "fireball over there busted my ice cream freezer. does the fbi like ice cream?" 

the answer to that question is yes. 

[even a stoic looking agent - the man in charge maggie realizes, takes neapolitan ice cream sandwhich] 

and maggie ends up watching the sunrise sitting on the curb next to supergirl, while agent danvers directs what maggie realizes is a coverup. 

the alien was long since restrained in some heavy duty cuffs and carried away. supergirl had tried to help, but was sent away by agent danvers "she likes you." supergirl says 

"who?" maggie asks, looking around at the 'fbi agent.' 

"agent danvers." supergirl replies "she definitely likes you." 

"and you know this how?" maggie asks 

"she didn't arrest you." 

which doesn't seem like much of a sign of anything besides the fact that maggie didn't do anything wrong, 

but also

"and this," supergirl says, standing, wandering over to talk to an agent with short cropped dark hair. 

it leaves maggie sitting alone as agent danvers walks over, pulling something from a pocket. 

a card, maggie realizes. 

"if any of his buddies stumble in here." agent danvers is saying, holding out the card "give us a call." 

"that likely to happen?" maggie asks, taking the card and looking down at it 

agent alex danvers is in neat blue lettering against cream cardstock, above a phone number, below the logo of the fbi. 

"probably not." agent danvers says "and if they do, you did just fine the first time." 

"i'd rather not go round two." maggie admits. 

that gets a smile from agent danvers and maggie does not swoon, not in the slightest. not at all. 

"agent danvers!" an agent calls from by the fanciest helicopter maggie has ever seen just causally parked on a dirt road "we're ready to go." 

agent danvers holds out her hand "thank you." she says, something different in her voice "for looking out for supergirl." 

"she's a hero." maggie says with a shrug. 

she watches agent alex danvers turn away and is jolted in surprise when supergirl comes over and pulls her into a hug "thank you." she says, then steps back "see you around." 

which honestly, maggie doubts 

until eight thirty am and she's finally driving home from work. until her phone rings and she expects her boss asking for yet another iteration of why the entire stock of cliffbars is gone with no receipts. but instead she's met with 

_"is this detective maggie sawyer?"_

and 

_"this is captain bridges with the national city police department science division."_

and her heart is pounding because _"your transfer papers have been approved."_ is the icing on top of this very, very weird night. 

and after she hangs up, after she gets home and tells her aunt the good news, after they celebrate and maggie quits her job with a phone call, 

she's getting ready to sleep and a card falls onto her bed. 

**agent alex danvers - fbi**

maybe supergirl was right, maggie thinks, maybe they would be seeing more of each other. 

[or at the very least, she hopes, agent alex danvers]

**Author's Note:**

> this is based entirely on [this](http://onefootone.tumblr.com/post/157991929790/newt-skamander-silverybeing-ive-been) post talking about liminal spaces. 
> 
> come shout about supergirl with me on tumblr @[onefootone](http://www.onefootone.tumblr.com)


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